This a surprisingly good book about a former Presbyterian
minister's spiritual awakening outside the institutional
Church. His journey is marked by a lucid accounting
of those things in the Christian faith and the Bible
he feels are wrongly interpreted in light of his experiences.
The sad part of this is the author losing his support
within the church structure he grew up in. However,
he's not bitter, or angry. I particularly enjoyed the
honesty and insight the author shares. He continues
to believe and practice a faith informed by many sources.
His openness and tolerance are hallmarks of a mature
and genuine spiritual soul. Many people wounded by institutional
churches may well find welcome and comfort within the
pages of this book.

My
quibbles with the book are minor. First, the word spacing
and the smallness of the type make it a little hard
to read. Also, the book looks like the very kind of
book that someone wounded by a traditional church might
shy away from. My first thoughts upon looking at the
book were that it was an Evangelical or CBA (Christian
Booksellers Association) type of book. I would encourage
a different look on future printings, appealing to a
nontraditional spiritual readership, and also, redesign
the pages with a more open layout for ease of readability.
Overall though, I enjoyed the book.

I
wasn’t surprised when this book came to me to be reviewed…I
trust in synchronicity. Having been in the middle of
discussion with my spiritual circle about what Jesus
meant when he said that he would tell us “much more”,
I was glad to find “A Handbook for Heretics” explains
it, and the author’s theory is much like my own.

John
Sloat was a Presbyterian minister for many years. Then
he was enlightened with the concepts of reincarnation
and spirituality outside of religion. He was labeled
a heretic. Hooray for heretics! In the book, John confirms
my belief that the church has gotten way too caught
up in the politics of being a church than in the development
of its teachings or even in paying attention to messages
from a higher power. Has God been silent for 2000 years?
I don’t think so. But most religions have ignored any
new word. In fact, most religions have decidedly said
that new ideas are heresy.

Not
everyone is shutting their ears though. There are many
people who are hearing, seeing, and paying attention
to the signs all around them. Ideas discussed in this
book include reincarnation, angel messages, coincidences
(synchronicity), near death experiences, church and
religion reformation and much more. John suggests that
in order for a new age of spirituality to truly come
into being, three concepts need to be let go: That Christianity
is the only true religion; That the Bible is the only
rule of faith and practice; And that Jesus is the only
Savior of the world.

Does
he dismiss Christianity, the Bible and Jesus? No, but
he helps us to understand them better, and to open our
eyes that there is more than one path to spirituality.
On this we certainly agree.

With
the use of personal stories and true anecdotes, John
reaches out to the reader’s humanity. In offering the
stories, he offers a lesson. It is up to us to adhere
to it. The congregations that knew John were certainly
graced with a wise man. In his spiritual growth and
publishing “A Handbook For Heretics”, John has graced
everyone who picks up a copy with a bit of wisdom. Of
course, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot
make him drink. A quote from the book says it all to
me; “Those who want to move from the incubator (religion)
to the Kingdom will always face the malice of well-intentioned
people who think they are defending God. But making
that move is the only way to spiritual freedom, and
those who blaze the trail will open the way for everyone
else.” Some will continue to call John a Heretic, while
others still will come to know him as a trailblazer.